Return Management – actions facilitating the passage of non-EU/EEA national migrants to their country of origin or another country outside the EU – has been identified as an integral part of the fight against illegal immigration in the European Union. In this context, Ramboll Management Consulting, in consortium with Matrix, was selected to provide an external evaluation of the three programs, which served as the basis for the European Return Fund: the 2005 Return Preparatory Actions, the 2006 Return Preparatory Action, and Migration Management, Solidarity in Action – 2007. These programmes constituted the first practical experience in financing projects aimed at supporting the efforts made in the Member States to improve the management of return of illegal migrants in all its dimensions.
The purpose of the evaluation was dual: firstly, the purpose was to measure the results of the Return Preparatory Actions; secondly it was meant to identify the different elements that produced the results achieved, and that constituted best practices. Experiences gained from this evaluation serve as guidance to the Commission and the Member States to better target the programming of the European Return Fund, thus adding a formative aspect to the assignment as well.
Overall the evaluation concluded that the Return Preparatory Actions were successful in producing the expected intermediary results. In addition, the evaluation made it clear that EU return management is a new and emerging policy field which would benefit from a clear and evident policy framework explaining some of the basic concepts of return management. Based on the overall conclusions, the evaluator presented six recommendations for the future:
- A clear and evident policy framework
- Integrated return management
- Knowledge management
- Ensuring transnational partnership
- Ensuring and measuring efficiency
- Complementarity
Back to the European policy studies site